Sunday, November 6, 2011

Lee

I'm having a hard time interpreting this poem but the imagery and language is obvious. The speaker is describing the peaches of summer and the joy they bring him in their entirety- "not only the skin, but the shade, not only the sugar, but the days," etc. The speaker sees the peaches in their entirety and everything they represent. The hard work of the pickers, the blossom in the very beginning, even the days and times that the fruit represents. I think the summer days that the peaches represent are important because they represent a fleeting time of youth and summer free of complications such as death but instead overflowing with joy. Perhaps the peaches represent this very idea of summer and a carefree, innocent time of childhood that the speaker longs could be back in his life again? But perhaps he knows they will never be a part of him again-"sweet, impossible blossom."

2 comments:

After class discussion today, I learned that this poem can be read from the viewpoint of the peach representing a significant other or another human being for that matter. This can be supported through the general language of the poem-"dusty skin" for example. It is important to note that this poem has a very transcendentalist feel to it. The speaker takes in the entire peach-from the beginnings of the tree to the dusty skin. He takes the good with the bad similar to how people in some relationships do. In this poem, the reader gets the feeling that the peach represents the circle of life with its circular beginning and ending. Also, we discussed the ending "sweet, impossible blossom" a little more and how it can be interpreted as the simple magic that goes into producing a fruit just from one tiny seed. Lee could be asking his readers to take another long look at nature and admire the power that it possesses.